Friends Til The End?
by Squeaky Chipette Carly
Summary: What happens if Joey made the ultimate sacrifce and wasn't saved in time after being controlled by Marick to duel Yugi? What horrors await Yugi and the gang when the battle city finalists are introduced and one of those faces is all too familiar?
1. Prologue: Beneath the Waves

Prologue: Beneath the Waves

_The water was cold and it was enough to rouse Yugi from his semi-unconscious state that he had found himself in ever since he had sacrificed his own life points to save his best friend. At least the water was enough to dull the numb ache in Yugi's body that his own attack had left on him although it really didn't matter for in a few short minutes, the young man was certain that he was going to die. After all, he had sacrificed himself in order for Joey to retrieve his own key to save himself and at least his best friend was going to be alright._

_Although, Yugi did have to admit that he was slightly confused as he opened his soft violet eyes part way and noticed that his friend was still underneath the water with him. Why in the world hadn't Joey saved himself yet? Hadn't his friend realized that the whole reason behind his sacrifice was so that Joey could save himself? Yugi couldn't help but frown slightly at the thought as he watched as Joey started swimming over to him instead of freeing himself from the anchor that trapped them both beneath the cold waters of the ocean._

'_What…what is he doing?' Yugi thought to himself as he watched the blonde haired male swim over to him before grabbing onto his leg that the chain was fastened to._

_It didn't take long at all for the young man to realize that in one of Joey's hands there was a key and Yugi's eyes widened in complete horror when he realized that the key in Joey's hand wasn't the key for his own chain but rather for Yugi's. Instead of using the time Yugi had managed to buy for him in getting his own key, Joey must have used that time to get his key instead and it was only when the weight of the anchor was finally lifted from him that Yugi managed to weakly look down at Joey as he began to float towards the surface of the water._

"_J-Joey…" Yugi whispered weakly as he tried reaching out with one of his hands towards his friend before the blonde disappeared into the dark abyss of the ocean._

_The shadows made it all but impossible to see where Joey had disappeared to although Yugi still hoped that his friend would soon be following up beside him after he managed to free himself. However, as the seconds passed by and the surface of the ocean drew closer and closer, Yugi realized with a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong. Joey wasn't coming up from the shadows like he had thought and it was only when Yugi's head broke through the surface of the water that he found himself gasping for some much needed air._

"_Yugi!" The young man floated lifelessly in the middle of the water as he stared down into the dark waters below and he all but ignored the relieved cries of his friends as Tristan soon dived into the water after him._

_Even as Tristan started to pull him towards the safety of the pier, Yugi couldn't tear his gaze away from the spot where he had last seen Joey and tears welled up in his eyes as he watched a lone trail of bubbles start making its way to the surface. There was no way that Joey could have survived that long underneath the water without any air and even after Yugi was brought to the safety of the pier where Tae, Duke, Mai, and Mokuba all hovered around him, he couldn't help but continue to reach out desperately towards the spot where he had last seen his friend underneath the waves._

"_JOEY!"_

"JOEY!" Tristan nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard his little friend suddenly scream Joey's name and he watched with wide eyes as Yugi bolted straight up in the back seat of Mai's car clutching at his heart.

Tristan's black jacket that had been covering the smaller figure went falling into Yugi's lap and Tristan watched as Yugi glanced around desperately as though trying to figure out where he was and what was going on. Lying in the back of Mai's car must have come as a complete surprise to the young man and Tristan managed a small smile as he leaned over the back of the passenger's seat in order to grab his jacket and bring it back up over Yugi's shoulders in an attempt to keep him warm.

"Shh, it's alright, Yug. You're safe now so there's nothing to worry about." Tristan tried to reassure Yugi who was glancing around at everybody else that had been gathered around Mai's car looking grim faced and sad.

It took Yugi a moment to regain some of his senses and bringing a hand up to clutch Tristan's jacket closer to his chest, he swallowed back a sickening feeling as he glanced around his circle of friends and realized that one face in particular was missing from the group.

"Wh-where's Joey?" Yugi whispered softly as though hoping his nightmare had been nothing more than that, a nightmare.

However, the looks on the group's faces made Yugi feel as though his heart had been frozen in his chest as panic once again began to sink in. Why wasn't anybody answering his question?! He had seen the way that everybody looked at one another when he questioned Joey's whereabouts and they were looks that Yugi didn't want to ignore at the moment.

"I said, where's Joey?" Yugi asked again only this time it was in a tone indicating that he wanted an answer this time.

An awkward moment of silence soon overcame the small group and Tristan was the only one who seemed willing to answer Yugi's question. The young man had glanced around the circle of their friends as though waiting to see if anybody was going to answer Yugi's question and once he had been certain that nobody was going to answer, Tristan cleared his throat and nodded feebly towards the middle of the dueling arena that Marick had constructed specifically for Yugi and the then mind controlled Joey's duel.

"He's…he's gone, Yug. I tried to go down with the key to free him but it was so dark that I couldn't see a thing…" Tristan whispered sadly as Yugi's eyes widened in horror.

Joey, his best friend, gone? It just couldn't be! Not after everything that the two of them had been through! What about the promise that Joey had made to him? About how they were going to take down Marick together? What about the promise of always being there for one another and to give each other the strength to carry on? Joey had never broken any of his promises before so he couldn't start now. Yugi's tears slowly began to fill with tears as he weakly managed to climb out of Mai's car before slowly starting to make his way towards the dock on shaky legs.

"Joey…" Behind him, Yugi could hear the surprise gasps of his friends as they started to come after him and the tears started to flow freely down his cheeks as he collapsed to his knees and watched the shimmering water of the ocean where his best friend lay somewhere underneath.

"JOEY!" Yugi began to sob at the top of his lungs as he bowed his head and began to weep openly. It just wasn't possible.

Joey couldn't be gone. This was all just one giant nightmare that he would wake up from at any moment and when he did, Joey would still be there like he always was. However, when Yugi felt somebody, probably Tristan, gently grabbing his shoulders to help him to his feet, he realized that this wasn't a nightmare for the dull ache in his shoulder told him otherwise.

Joey…was gone and it was all his fault. It was a cold hard truth that Yugi had to live with and carry the burden on his tiny shoulders and the truth hit him hard.

His best friend was no longer there for him and Yugi knew that he had nobody to blame…but himself…

To be continued…

A/N: And that is the end of this chapter! Tune in next time to see what happens when an all too familiar figure appears at the battle city finals completely different. And just so you all know, I own neither the show or the characters affiliated with this story. Just wanted to let you all know.


	2. Chapter One: Pre-Finals Fears

Chapter One: Pre-Finals Fears

The car ride to the location of the battle city finals was a quiet one to say the very least. There was a heavy feeling of grief weighing down on the small group of friends at the realization that they had lost one of their own that day.

Fate had cast a cruel hand that day and it took away a part of the foundation of their friendship that they could never get back.

It wasn't like a game of duel monsters where a favorite monster was destroyed in battle and brought back with a magic card. This was real life and in real life there were no second chances when the card of death was put into play.

There was no card that could bring back their friend with the silly grin yet protective manner. There was no card that could bring back somebody who was not only a best friend but a brother as well.

Yugi stared silently down at his feet which were just now starting to dry after being submerged in the ocean, but having wet feet was the least of his worries at the moment. His mind was heavy with the fact that it was his fault that Joey was gone for he should have done something to help. He should have dived back down beneath the water after he was freed to help Joey! He should have gone back for him! He should have…

'_Yugi, you cannot keep beating yourself up over this.' _Yami's calm voice suddenly filled the younger male's head causing him to close his eyes as his fingers curled protectively around the millennium puzzle that dangled around his neck.

'_And why not? Joey is dead because of me and I didn't do anything to help him!' _Yugi frowned as Yami slowly materialized in the dark realm of his mind.

A matching frown was also evident on Yami's face as well for he knew just how upset Yugi was about losing his best friend. Yami himself felt responsible for all that had occurred for he should have taken control of Yugi's body when he had the chance. If he had taken control of Yugi's body before the younger male had given the puzzle to Joey, there might have been a chance that something could have been done to save the courageous blond.

'_What would you have done, Yugi? Dive back into the water? For what? You didn't have his key, your body was exhausted, all that would have done was make Joey's sacrifice in vain.' _Yugi hated to admit it but Yami made a good point.

It wasn't as though he had Joey's key with him when he was pulled into the ocean so that wouldn't have done both him and Joey any good. The silence that soon filled the dark recesses of Yugi's mind made it painful obvious that Yami's words had struck a chord in his young counterpart and he slowly reached out to lightly rest a hand on Yugi's quivering shoulder.

'_I know that this is hard for you, Yugi. I too lost my best friend when I was about your age and when you want to listen, I will share my story with you. In the meantime, why don't you let me take over and you get some rest? You've been through a lot in these past few hours.' Yami whispered._

'_Not as much as Joey has.' _Yugi whispered under his breath but nonetheless reluctantly nodding his head to show that he had no objections with Yami taking control for a little. It wasn't as though he had anything to look forward to when the battle city finals began anyway. Not when Joey wasn't going to be by his side after all they had been through.

Joey was gone and as much as it pained Yugi to admit it, it was something that could not be changed and as he felt Yami take control of his body, a lone tear managed to roll down Yugi's cheek and fell to the young man's lap before he allowed his mind to slip away to the realm of unconsciousness where reality all but disappeared.

"Now what are your orders again my mind slave?" Marik asked pacing in front of a slightly taller figure who's body was still soaking wet from his little dip in the ocean.

Lifeless chocolate brown eyes slowly tore their attention away from the floor they had been looking at and they in turn locked onto Marik's violet ones without a single sign of recognition in them.

"My orders are to defeat all those who get in my way at the battle city finals and take down Yugi once and for all." Joey's voice muttered as Marik grabbed a towel from the ship's bathroom they were in and draped it around the blonde's shoulders with a small nod of his head.

"That is correct. Now tell me, why are you going to take down Yugi?"

"Because he abandoned me and left me to die."

Marik's smile grew even more at Joey's emotionless words and he reached out to take Joey's new modified deck from the other male's hands. It still amazed Marik at just how easily Joey's mind was able to break once it realized that Yugi and his supposed friends had really abandoned him. Not that he was complaining of course seeing as how he now had an even stronger weapon in his arsenal of rare hunters and Marik glanced down at the first card in Joey's deck that he had personally added himself.

The Winged Dragon of Ra. The real thing as well unlike that fake copy he had given Odion and Marik knew that he was taking a risk by intrusting the card to Joey but he had a feeling that the blonde would be more than capable of wielding its power. Besides, if Joey had the real Winged Dragon of Ra card, it would draw less suspicion on himself and the less attention Marik drew to himself the better.

"It seems that you are ready to go now, my precious mind slave. Now come, let us go to the site of the battle city finals and see your 'friends' shall we?" Marik smirked as he wrapped both of his arms around one of Joey's then and started to guide the other male out of the room and down the ramp to the docks with Odion following silently behind them.

Joey's eyes remained completely void of any emotions as the three of them walked down the pier of the harbor although there was just the smallest hint of a small sneer forming on the young man's face as though genuinely agitated at the thought of being deserted by his friends.

All Joey had now was Marik and since the other male had saved his life, it only felt natural that Joey return the favor even though his mind had all but shut down the possibility of ever joining his friends again. Marik was his only friend and Joey had to protect him from Yugi and his friends for if he didn't do it then who would?

"As you wish…my master."

To be continued…


End file.
